U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) proposed a cooperative effort with Russia to combat terrorism during a talk at the Laguna Beach Rotary Club's weekly luncheon.

"We need to work with Russia to fight radical Islam," Rohrabacher said Friday at Aliso Creek Inn. "They are doing things I can't imagine an American doing. They slaughter innocent people without going into combat — they even slaughter their own people."

Rohrabacher opined that America's open society, including the attitude toward women, appears to be a threat to the radical element of Islam principles.

The luncheon was one of the stops on Rohrabacher's tour of areas that were added after the district remapping. His 48th congressional district now includes Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and parts of Huntington Beach.

The congressman left no doubts about his feelings on illegal immigrants.

"We should not ever again legalize people who are here illegally," Rohrabacher said. "It is not the best interests of my country or my constituents. Local emergency rooms are overwhelmed. Schools are overwhelmed. And they are not paying their share of taxes.

"Ninety-five percent of the illegal immigrants are wonderful people, but we cannot afford to take care of everyone," he added.

There is one compromise he would consider making.

"I might be willing to say that if some illegals are now able to invest money in a business the way we want, they may be able to stay," Rohrabacher said. "We want wealth to stay here."

Rohrabacher said he is also investigating the top military decision-makers in the Benghazi attack in which Americans died, and he is working behind the scenes to free Dr. Shakil Afridi from a Pakistani jail, where he has been held since identifying the Osama bin Laden compound and was left behind by American forces.